Category: Archived

I recently started using my Samsung Monitor through an HDMI connection rather than DVI. I have used Samsung Monitors for a few years now since selling my 30″ Apple Cinema Display before they were discontinued. Samsung Monitors are very high quality and a fraction of the price. My eye (even with glasses on) can’t tell much of a difference between an Apple Cinema Display and a Samsung. I only need my monitor to be a monitor. The extra features an Apple Cinema Display offer are nice, but I can live without them. However, in making this change to HDMI I encountered a few problems.

My monitor is a 27″ Samsung S27A350H which offers an HDMI and VGA input. I was not about to connect my MBP through a VGA connection and loose valuable quality so I opted to connect through HDMI. To be honest, I didn’t bother trying the VGA connection to test differences in quality.

On my desk, I have my laptop on a Twelve South Bookarc stand and I keep it closed. I use the external monitor as my only monitor. I have several HDMI cables ranging in quality. The HDMI Cables that I have been using for home audio and my computer are the MediaBridge cables that Amazon.com carries. They are quality cables at a cheap price. To connect the HDMI Cable to my MacBook Pro I am using the Moshi MiniDisplay Port to HDMI Adapter, which I also bought at Amazon.com.

The problem is that when I connect the Moshi adapter to my MacBook Pro and attempt to wake my computer by tapping a key on my Apple Wireless Keyboard, nothing happens. I checked that the Samsung monitor is turned on, the cables are connected, and that my MacBook Pro in hibernate mode. Everything was fine. If I opened my MacBook Pro with the HDMI connected, both monitors would come on and it would operate in dual display mode. However, once I closed my laptop, I could not get the monitor to come back on by itself. I also have a generic brand MiniDisplay Port to HDMI adapter which is horrible and makes the screen flicker. This is the only monitor that seems to have a problem with the cheaper adapter. As far as image quality goes, the Moshi adapter works perfectly.

After trying everything, I called Samsung, who was also unable to help. I did some searching online and all that I found is that many others were experiencing similar problems. Determined, as usual, I kept at it and found a few different things that seem to have solved the problem. A few forums even suggested that the Samsung Monitor does not work properly with Apple’s way of detecting a monitor has been attached. It was also suggested that there were problems with many PC manufacturers as well, so it’s not a specific issue to Apple.

Changing Settings – Go into Menu on your monitor and switch the Auto Source to Auto, by default it comes set to Manual. You can get to this menu option by tapping menu twice to get it to come up, selecting Setup&Reset, then go down to Auto Source.

The first time I did this it seemed to work right away, however, the next day I came into work and plugged in I had the same problem.

With this Samsung Monitor, it seems that you have to tap each button twice to get it to do anything unless the option is already on the screen. The second thing I did was tap the Source button on the monitor twice. This switched sources from one to the next. I assumed that since the screen kept toggling back and forth between Analog and HDMI that it was doing this on its own. It may have been but hitting the source button twice seems to have made it work once again.

Performing this song and dance each time I connect my MacBook Pro to the Samsung Monitor got old really fast so I opted to try a different workaround.

Changing Cables – The solution that fixed the problem was purchasing an HDMI to DVI cable from Amazon.com and using my MiniDisplay Port to DVI adapter. This makes me believe that the problem is not so much in the Samsung Monitor or the MacBook Pro as it is the Moshi adapter. I can not confirm that the Moshi adapter is the problem as it does work perfectly in all other situations including a situation where I connect my MacBook Pro to a projector through HDMI over a 50-foot cable without any issues. I have no idea who to blame for my frustration, all I know is that it works great now.

The other fix would be to just use the monitor with your VGA adapter where you may lose some image sharpness but not have any connection issues.

Does this make me want to return my Samsung 27″ monitor that I paid $300 for to exchange it for a $999 Apple Cinema Display? To be honest I thought about it for a moment but it’s not work the extra money.

I hope that one of these suggestions helps you with your Samsung/MBP issues if you are having any.

Some interesting information on Fathers day and the state of dad-ness in the world.

Much of my website design business comes from referrals I received from someone I either worked with before or networked with. When a referral results in new business it is kind of a big deal for me. Some businesses have a smaller price point and sell in bulk where the nature of my business requires a lot more work which results in a higher price. When a referral is given to me by someone who trusts in me enough to put my name out there to their contact, I don’t take that lightly. I also like to show my appreciation to that person.

In the past I would send them a thank you card with a Starbucks card in it. Everybody likes Starbucks right? A nice card, a cup or three of coffee on me. It makes for a nice treat but it’s not much of a lasting statement. I like doing things that leave a lasting result. I also understand that the best thing you can do for someone is empower them to feel good about them self.

A few years ago while attending a Twitter Conference I received a $25 gift card to DonorsChoose.Org, a website where teachers can post fundraising requests for their classrooms. We all know that teachers are not getting the resources they need these days especially in lower income areas. This website gives you the chance to connect with teachers who are posting their projects or ideas. You can donate any amount toward their needs. Your donations allow them to get the resources they need to make their project happen for their kids. How awesome is that and how could you not feel great about yourself after taking part in the enrichment of the lives of children?

You can check out my DonorsChoose Profile here and see what I have been up to. On my Impossible List I decided that I want to reach 10,000 kids lives through donating to their teachers.

DonorsChoose.Org allows you to send a donation gift card in the mail, send an e-card by email or print a certificate on your printer. When I want to show somebody that I appreciate their referral, I send them a $25 e-card by email. This allows them to log into DonorsChoose.org and donate to the project of their choice. I can’t think of one person who has referred business to me in my entire life that would not like the opportunity to donate to a classroom. Since I have been doing this as my way of thanks it has generated some really cool conversations with those who I have thanked. Several have told me about how they told others about this gift they were able to give. I can tell that the gift was unexpected and loved. Nobody really needs a Starbucks gift card. If I want a cup of coffee I can go buy it myself. It’s something that I already know how to do and am capable of. Donating to a classroom to enrich the lives of children is something that is not as easy to do. Most of us don’t know how to go about doing that and the thought might not even cross our minds.

What I propose is that the next time you want to show someone that you appreciate them, empower them to do something they probably would not have been able to do without your help.

DonorsChoose also has some great ideas that I love. You can donate your birthday with a Give-Back Birthday page. You can create a wedding registry and much more. We live in a time of excess and I can not think of a better way to show people how to have a giving heart then by giving to others rather than ourselves.

People are always asking me what they should do with their old Mac. Often that question is followed up with a long story about how long they have had their Mac and all that it has done for them. There are many options when it comes to selling your old computer but there is also much to worry about. Your Mac gadgets contain personal data and if you are not very tech savvy then you are probably worried about your personal data that was on that computer being harvested. In this article I am going to give you two bits of advice. The first is a safe and easy way to clear your hard drive of personal data before selling your Mac and the second is a great way to sell your Mac and get decent money for it.

Safe Mac Data Removal

The safest way to remove data from a Mac would be to format the hard drive thoroughly. If you are planning to replace this Mac with a new one, this process will be pretty easy. The tutorial below provides you with the safest and most thorough way of formatting your hard drive aside from destroying it completely.

You will need 2 Macs to complete this. Most people buy a new Mac to replace their old Mac leaving a short period of time when you have two Macs. Pretty much all Macs from the last five years or so have a Firewire port. This may change soon but for the time being they all come with Firewire. You will need your two Macs and a Firewire Cable. The cable does not have to be very long, just long enough to connect the two Macs. If your old Mac does not have a Firewire port then you will have to go with option two below. You will also need a fresh copy of Mac OS X. You can either use the disc that came with your Mac if you have it, or a new “Full” version of Mac OS X operating system you can get from Apple.Com or another retailer. You will need a Full version and not an upgrade disc. Make sure that the version of Mac OS X that you plan to use is compatible with your Old Mac if it is not the original disc that came with it.

WARNING: Make sure that you have transferred any data to your new Mac that you want to keep before continuing with this process. Once you complete this process it will be almost impossible to get the data off of your old Mac’s hard drive. In my tutorial below New Mac is the Mac you are keeping and Old Mac is the Mac you wish to safely erase the data on. This process is actually quite easy so excuse my lengthly explanation of things. I just want to make sure you don’t make any mistakes.

Step 1: Make sure your new Mac is turned on and your old Mac is turned off.

Step 2: Using the Firewire cable, connect your two Macs. Make sure that both Macs are connected to power (laptops).

Step 3: On your old Mac, hold down the “T” key on your keyboard and turn on the power. Continue to hold down the “T” key on the keyboard until you see the Firewire logo (see image below).

Step 4: On your new Mac you should see your old Mac connected as if it was an external hard drive. This will allow you one last change to grab anything off of the old Mac before shredding the hard drive contents. You can navigate to your User folder by clicking on the drive icon for your old Mac (it will have the firewire logo in the icon). Navigate to your users folder by clicking on Users then choose the user account name. You will now be in the Home folder and you can access the files that were on your old Mac’s Desktop, Documents, Music, Movies, Photos and Shared Folders. Copy any files that you want to keep over to your new Mac.

Step 5: Once you are absolutely sure that you have everything off of your old Mac and are ready to format the hard drive, continue to step 6.

Step 6: On your new Mac, open your Applications folder and navigate to the Utilities folder. In the Utilities folder there is an application called Disk Utility. Open that.

Step 7: You will see a list of connected disks on the left hand side. Make absolutely sure to select the drive on your Old Mac. If you are unsure as to which drive to choose, disconnect all external hard drives you have connected to your new Mac just to be safe. You don’t want to accidentally format the wrong drive.

Step 8: This step has a four part process. See the image below to follow along.

• Select the drive you wish to format. Unless you had renamed your old Mac’s hard drive it will probably be called Macintosh HD. The icon for your old Mac’s hard drive will be a firewire disk icon.
• Select the format option “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
• Title the hard drive Macintosh HD
• Click on the Security Options button

Step 9: After you clicked the Security Options button, a drop down window appeared with format options. Select the 7-Pass Erase Format Process. Depending on your hard drive size, this process could take quite a bit of time to complete. I recommend setting this option at the end of your day and letting it run over night. The 7-Pass Erase process writes 0’s over the entire hard drive 7 times. The 7-Pass Erase process meets the US Department of Defense standards for securely erasing magnetic media. My guess is that if the Security of Defense is cool with it, then I am cool with it.

Formatting recommendations: Your hard drives on both machines will be spinning during this entire process. If your are on laptops I suggest setting them both on a table so proper air flow can get into your laptops and onto the hard drives and processors. The format process is not a taxing process on your system but it is a long process of continuous running. Its better to be safe and avoid long periods of heat if at all possible. After the hard drive format on your old Mac is complete it will have been successfully erased completely.

Step 10: Insert the restore disc or new Mac OS X install disc into your Old Mac then turn it off and disconnect the Firewire cable. You will not need your New Mac for the rest of the tutorial so from here on out when I mention Mac I am referring to your old Mac.

Step 11: Turn your Mac back on while holding down the “C” key on your keyboard. This will force your Mac to boot from the CD which it probably would have anyway due to the fact that there is nothing on the main hard drive any longer. From here the process is pretty simple to install Mac OS X back to it’s new state as it was when you first purchased your Mac. It will walk you through the process. When the installation is complete and you get the Welcome screen asking you to choose a language, hit the eject button to remove your disc. Once your disc is out, hold down the power button until your Mac turns off.

Complete! You are now ready to sell your Mac safely. You can now be confident that whomever ends up buying your old Mac will have a fresh Mac and absolutely no way to get your old data.

Options for selling your Old Mac

eBay: Though I absolutely hate eBay, it is a decent option for selling your old Mac. You won’t get the most money for it but if the price is right, it will sell.
Amazon.Com: If your old Mac is not that old then you can probably find it on Amazon and list it there. Older items on Amazon usually take longer to sell but you can get better money then on eBay if it does sell most of the time.
Craigslist: I usually try to avoid Craigslist, but for selling computers it works pretty well. I suggest that if you are going to use Craigslist, use it to sell your laptop so you can meet the person at a Starbucks or somewhere public. You never know what kind of person you are going to meet when using Craigslist.

The Best Option for Selling Your Old Mac

Powerbook Medic is now offering to buy your old Mac Gadgets. Powerbook Medic is where I buy any replacement parts I need for my Mac Gadgets. Visit their website, enter what it is you are wanting to sell to them and they will make you an offer based on the fair market value of the product. If you like the price they have a few hassle free shipping options for you to send your device to them. It is highly likely that they will probably take your device apart and sell it piece by piece given that is the nature of their business. I have checked out the options for several devices and their buyback prices are pretty decent. The better condition your device, the more you will be offered.

Just like with selling most things, you will probably get a better price by selling to a private party but with the speed in which new technology comes out and the ease in which people can complain about something if they are not happy, it may be easier to sell it to a company like Powerbook Medic.

Have you had a positive selling your Mac? Let me know what your method was in the comments box below.

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